A just released study published in the Lancet gives us guidance on which pediatric blunt trauma patients need cervical spine imaging. Age range was 0-17 years.
“Out of 22,430 children included in the study, 433 (1.9%) were found to have Cervical spine injury (CSI). The study identified 4 high risk factors for CSI to be used to triage children to CT (12% risk for a cervical spine injury):
In children without high-risk findings, 5 additional findings identified children with intermediate, non-negligible risk of CSI (3.6% risk of a cervical spine injury):
PECARN prediction rule for cervical spine imaging of children presenting to the emergency department with blunt trauma: a multicentre prospective observational study
Prof Julie C Leonard, MD Monica Harding, MS Prof Lawrence J Cook, PhD Prof Jeffrey R Leonard, MD
Prof Kathleen M Adelgais, MD Fahd A Ahmad, MD et al.
Published:June 03, 2024DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(24)00104-4
2. https://pecarn.org/pecarn_news/clinical-decision-rule-cervical-spine/
